"He's our captain, and everyone looks to him to be our vocal leader," Hallam manager Terry Golden said. "When you think of Hallam baseball, you think of the name Seitz."

Seitz led the way from the very first inning.

With two outs, and runners on first and third, Jacobus starter Mike Crowe had Seitz in an 0-2 hole.

One strike away from the end of the inning, Seitz fought to foul off two pitches before lofting an RBI single to right field.

"(Seitz) lives for those moments," Golden said. "More times than not, he comes through for our team. He's a veteran hitter who looks for his pitches, and when he gets 'em, he's not gonna miss 'em."

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The hit not only opened the scoring, but it brought Angel Matias to the plate.

Matias ripped a single to left to make it 2-0.

The early offense gave Ruth the lead as he walked to the mound.

"It's always nice when you start the game 2-0 up," Ruth said. "As the pitcher, you can't put runs on the board. To have an early lead changes the entire way you pitch."

Ruth pitched around a hit and a walk in the first with back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.

Hallam pitcher Matt Ruth didn't allow any runs during Game 2 of the Susquehanna League championship series at Jacobus on Thursday. Ruth struck out six batters as Hallam won 4-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. (Kate Penn — Daily Record/Sunday News)

He proceeded to mow through the Jacobus lineup, scattering four hits, and retiring ten batters in a row at one point.

Not too bad for a pitcher who only started one game and primarily worked out of the bullpen during the season.

Ruth recorded six strikeouts, five of them looking.

"The biggest thing is that I have two different curveballs," Ruth said. "I was throwing a big loopy one and then throwing a tighter one, that can be almost like having a third pitch."

Crowe began to match Ruth pitch for pitch after the first inning.

Hallam is a good ball team, and we're a good ball team," Jacobus manager Jed Larkin said. "There aren't going to be a lot of runs, so you have to play it that way."

Things stayed the same until Seitz came to bat with one on in the fifth.

Seitz swung at the third pitch of the at-bat, and a loud crack rang out around the ballpark.

The ball flew over the left-field fence for a two-run homer that put the game away.

"He left one over the plate, and I turned on it and it got out of here," Seitz said. "I hit it pretty good. That one hit the barrel."

"I don't think we struggled on offense," Larkin said. "The baseball gods weren't with us, and Matt threw a good game."